Sunday, May 19, 2013 18:44

Posts Tagged ‘Ankou Awaits’

ANKOU AWAITS – WYLLT (Black Plague Records)

Sunday, April 14th, 2013

I’m not sure it’s possible to be any further removed from the mainstream than Ankou Awaits. Operating on the very periphery of the Black Metal underground – about a million miles and as many aeons from actual civilization – Ankou Awaits is a unique entity, a musical maverick, a law unto itself, a one-man operation that epitomises the most positive facets of the DIY etiquette synonymous with our beloved sub-subgenre.

On his third full-length in as many years, the irrepressible Thomas Eversole has forged together six more slabs of discordant, disjointed, asymmetrical, chaotic Black / Death that takes on a life all of its own. In recent years, I’ve encountered very few artists who’ve managed to conceive a style / sound all of their own, but Ankou Awaits is one such force.

He ploughs a lone furrow, following his muse and remaining blissfully unaware of / immune to all trends and expectations of what Black Metal should be. There’s more variety on ‘Wyllt’ than there was to be found on either ‘Lebor Gabala Erenn’ or ‘Crog Buidhe’, which means that things can become even more disjointed, muddled, random, murky and generally all-over-the place than on the predecessors.

If you like your Black Metal ‘by-the-numbers’, then don’t approach this. It’s complete fucking madness from start to finish, boasting some of the most incongruous song structures known to man or beast. This is one strange journey and it can become a difficult one at times but I think it’s refreshing to find something so genuinely odd in today’s dot-to-dot musical landscape. Love it or hate it, Ankou Awaits will certainly make an impression on you. And that’s what we need; to be moved.

Evilometer: 555/666

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ANKOU AWAITS – CROG BUIDHE (The Path Less Traveled Records)

Monday, March 19th, 2012

Ankou Awaits’ debut  full-length ‘Lebor Gabala Erenn’ reached me like a foul stench of fetid air and – a mere six months hitherto – this follow-up confirms that the husband-and-wife team from Illinois has no intention of leaving behind the strangely-comforting nether regions of the metal underground any time soon. And why would they when they can create a rumbling racket as compelling as ‘Crog Buidhe’?

Lo-fi and organic, obstinately inaccessible yet oh-so-rewarding for those who get there, this is the antidote to the polished, pristine produce fucking up our beloved subgenres (Black and Death Metal) today. If that’s not reason enough to hail ‘Crog Buidhe’ for the welcome detour it constitutes, then I don’t know what is…

It’s difficult to describe or pigeonhole Ankou Awaits. The sound conjured is unique to my ears and I would be so bold to suggest that there’s more death than black at work. I’m getting echoes of ‘Blessed Are The Sick’-era Morbid Angel, early Incantation and Immolation yet I’m at a loss to think of a single Black Metal horde referenced during these seven ancient odes. Considering that BM is built on adherence to same-sounding structures, I find this almost bizarre.

Beneath a controlled maelstrom of chugging riffs and hammering drums, there are real songs complete with intelligent, meaningful lyrics and a concept that’s obviously deeply meaningful to the deliverers. Through it all, I’m struck by the authenticity, the sincerity and the genuine honesty inherent in ‘Crog Buidhe’. I’m not going to lie – this is hard work at times and not always coherent – but ultimately it’s a major triumph and I’m left with a feeling of utter respect for the artists who have conceived something so pure, raw and uncompromised.

Evilometer: 555/666

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ANKOU AWAITS – LEBOR GABALA ERENN (Black Metal Underground)

Friday, October 28th, 2011

‘Lebor Gabala Erenn’ proves that you don’t have to be a virtuoso musician to produce compelling music. In Black Metal, it’s all about capturing the right vibe. As long as you compose and execute an album that sounds dark and foreboding, then technical wizardry isn’t even an afterthought. Thomas – the lone soul performing on Ankou Awaits’ debut full-length – is probably an average musician at best (if I can say such a thing about a multi-instrumentalist!) but he knows how to use his talents to maximum effect and the result is a breath-taking piece of genuinely underground BM.

At times it sounds haphazard; there are moments along the way where I was waiting for the whole thing to simply fall apart at the seams; but ‘Lebor Gabala Erenn’ stays the distance and emerges triumphant, a fist in the face, a sword to the throat, a defiant accomplishment that has almost literally come from nowhere. No shiny production in sight, we instead get an organic-sounding album that resembles an underwater or cave-imprisoned Inquisition, swirling dissonance and devil-may-care nastiness seeping from the speakers.

I really like the sound. It’s evil and base and basic and perfect on so many levels. Black Metal was always supposed to belong to the minority and this is music that fits in with that kind of ethos. The poetic lyrics (courtesy of Jessica) enhance the product and the end result is ten tracks of underground, grim, thoughtful, raw, uncomplicated one-man Black Metal with nary a dribble of corpsepaint in sight.

Evilometer: 555/666

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